Settlement on the horizon

Unite members on strike at prestigious jacket maker Barbour today (January 9) held a successful solidarity march and rally in Gateshead. It came at the end of the first of four weeks of planned stoppages and follows six days strike action in December.

The ongoing campaign has led to the company requesting ACAS talks on Monday (January 12), and with it comes the prospect of a negotiated settlement in a dispute over forced changes to warehouse staff contracts.

These changes include removing unsocial hours payments and introducing new shift patterns, with some workers forced to start at 6.30am and work as late as 11pm. This move would especially impact on workers caring for elderly relatives and children.

Barbour employee Ralph Nichol, Jr., is one such worker whose caring responsibilities will be made impossible with the imposition of the new contracts.

“I support my father, Ralph, aged 94. Quite honestly I can’t just leave him on his own
so early or so late,” said Nichol.

Meanwhile, Dawn Hallcro, another Barbour worker attending the rally, fears being forced to leave her two teenager children alone for long periods.

Workers, who handle roughly 70,000 items weekly, have until January 30 to sign the new contracts or face being sacked. And with jobs not being exactly plentiful on Tyne and Wear, the prospect of harsh working conditions imposed by forced contracts is particularly grim.

But the self-confidence and organisational support derived from being part of Unite has meant Barbour management has badly misjudged the mood of its employees, many earning just ÂŁ7.45 an hour, to defend one another.

“We feel loyal, long-serving employees should be treated much better,” explained Eric Bone, a Unite rep of Barbour’s warehouse staff. “We work on an isolated estate. The first bus arrives after the proposed new starting times. The last one leaves before 11pm.”

“We belong to Unite so everyone can look after one another,” Bone added. “That’s what we are doing by striking.”

And it’s not as if Barbour is struggling. Last year, the company made a healthy 14 percent return with £21.5 million in profits on worldwide sales of £152 million. Staff have worked hard as demand for the products of the successful family-run company has soared in recent years after Barbour jackets became popular with celebrities.

After picketing their Gateshead workplace from 7:30am, strikers crossed over to nearby South Shields. Accompanied by local Labour MPs, Stephen Hepburn and Emma Lewell-Buck, employees — flags flying and horns sounding — marched determinedly to Barbour’s main offices.

Sales director Ian Beattie accepted a signed letter to the company chair Dame Barbour requesting she intervene to help restore unsocial payments and get management to consider a day shift for anyone unable to work until 11pm.

Unite regional secretary Karen Reay and national officer Roger Maddison were as one in praising the strikers for standing up for “family values and your fellow workers.”

“The strikers have stood firm in pursuit of basic principles,” added Unite regional officer Fazia Hussain-Brown. “They are buoyed by the possibility of resolving the strike. Barbour management should act responsibly by considering the day shift we have proposed and entering Monday’s talks constructively. We certainly will do so.”

Stay tuned on UniteLIVE for an update on the dispute following talks on January 12.